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A Message to the 

Parents of 

School Children 




Presented by 

The Dental Committee 

of the 

Bridgeport Board of Health 



LIBRARY OF CONQRiiS 

APR 1 81981 

DOCUMENTS DIVI8ION 




TO THE PARENTS. 

In order that you may understand clearly just what the 
Dental Committee, working under the Board of Health, is trying 
to accomplish for your children in our public schools, we are 
sending this little booklet to you and ask you to carefully read 
same. 

The MOUTH IS THE GATEWAY TO OUR BODIES. If 
the mouth contains decayed teeth and decomposed food, then 
there are thousands of germs within this cavity and all of the 
fresh food taken at each meal becomes poisoned by these germs. 
This poisoned food is carried into the stomach and intestines 
causing in time, a bodily poisoning which is shown in the 
child by constipation, headache, dizziness, languid feeling, 
trouble with the eyesight, fevers, liability to colds and the many 
other small illnesses of child life. 

But these ailments are only .a. small part of the real serious 
dangers arising from DECAYED TEETH and UNCLEAN 
MOUTHS. Many of these decayed teeth produce abcesses and 
the pus, or matter, discharged from these abcesses and continual- 
ly swallowed, will eventually so poison the child's system that 
anaemia is frequently produced. Anaemia is a disease of the 
blood and from this the child becomes pale in color and weakened 
physically. 

You can readily understand that if the reservoirs of the city 
should become filthy and infected with typhoid germs, in a short 
time the whole population would be affected by an epidemic of 
sickness. And so it is with our bodies. No matter how pure the 
food that we eat is, if it passes through an unclean mouth it be- 
comes laden with the germs that thrive in such mouths. If we 
have sound teeth and clean mouths then the food will reach our 
stomachs in a clean state and can properly nourish our bodies. 

Would you not like to protect your child from the serious 
diseases of early life such as scarlet fever, diphtheria, mumps, 
measles, whooping cough, tonsilitis, etc.? Let us quote to you 
what has been done in one institution alone in the elimination of 
children's diseases. 



In St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, Camden Street, Boston, 
Mass., there are close to three hundred and fifty children. In the 
year 1910 the matron became convinced that the bad condition 
of the children's mouths had much to do with their sickness. A 
room was furnished with a dental chair and equipment and Dr. 
F. A. Keyes, of Boston, was employed to put the children's 
mouths in a sound, sanitary condition. 

Work was started in November, 1910, and in April, 191 1, 
the mouth of the last child had been put in order. Study the fol- 
lowing table and note that for nearly four years the diseases of 
childhood have been practically eliminated. The six cases of 
measles occurring during 1913 were caused by a new child whose 
mouth was in a bad condition on entering and the children in- 
fected were all in need of additional dental service. The one case 
of diphtheria was also from a new child with bad teeth. 













Nov. 


Apr. 


Apr. 


Apr. 


Apr. 










1909 


1910 


1911 


1912 


1913 


1914 






1907 


1908 


Nov. 


Apr. 


Apr. 


Apr. 


Apr. 


Jan. 






1908 


1909 


1910 


1911 


1912 


1913 


1914 


1915 


Diphtheria, 




6 


2 


1 











1 





Mumps, 




8 


3 


10 


4 














Scarlet fever, 




17 


8 


12 


8 














Pneumonia, 




3 


5 


4 


6 














Measles, 




24 


50 


40 


25 








6 





Tonsilitis, 




19 


16 


8 


3 














Whooping cough, 


7 


2 


2 

















Chicken pox, 




15 


17 


10 


6 














Croup, 




4 























Tuberculosis 


of eye, 


— 


— 


— 


— 


1 











Tuberculosis 


of lungs, 


— 


— 


— 


— 


1 








6 






103 


103 


87 


52 


2 





7 


6 



WE DO NOT BELIEVE THAT SOUND TEETH AND 
CLEAN MOUTHS WILL END ALL OF OUR PHYSICAL AIL- 
MENTS, BUT WE DO BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE POWER- 
FUL FACTORS FOR HEALTH AND FOR THE PREVEN- 
TION OF DISEASE. 



Furthermore we would call your attention to the possibility 
of improper brain development in children whose teeth are so bad- 
ly decayed that the child cannot properly chew his food. We have 
a set of muscles that opens the mouth and a set that closes it. These 
are known as the muscles of mastication. The muscles that close 
the jaw are very powerful and capable of exerting a great pressure 
between the teeth when they are closed. Close your teeth together 
and bite hard and you can feel with your fingers how the muscles 
swell out on the side of your head. 



Fig. 1 shows the attachment of 
the powerful temporal muscle. In 
childhood, if the teeth are sound, 
and hard and coarse foods are 
eaten, such as toast, crusts of 
bread, sweibach, meats, fried po- 
tatoes, etc., this muscle exerts a 
great force upon the side of the 
head and so expands the cranium 
or brain case. 




Fig. 1 



Fig. 2 shows the attach- 
ment of two more muscles to 
the underside of the skull. It 
may be seen how these mus- 
cles pull downward and how 
they will enlarge the brain case 
in this direction when they act. 

Now if the child has decayed 

or sore teeth and can only 

chew on one side of the jaws, 

the muscles on the opposite 

side do not work properly and 

Pi g 2 their pull or tension on the 

brain case is greatly weakened 

so that the brain case does not grow to its proper size. Of course 

the brain cannot fully grow if the bone around holds it back. 




Dr. Lawrence W. Baker of Boston has demonstrated upon 
animals what effect this lack of power to properly chew food has 
upon the skull and also upon the brain. Taking a litter of four 
rabbits, he ground down the teeth on the lower jaw on the right 
side of two of them so that they could chew only on the left side. 
The four rabbits were then fed the same food, living together 
under the same conditions, the only difference being the inability 
of the two rabbits to chew their food on the, right side. At the 
end of seven months the rabbits were chloroformed and the skulls 
prepared for examination. 



Fig. 3 shows the top view of the 
skull of the rabbit whose teeth were 
not ground and who could chew on 
both sides of the jaw. The line running 
straight through the skull shows where 
the bones of both sides of the skull 
join. Note how equally all portions of 
the skull are developed. 





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Fig. 3 




Fig. 4 is the same view of one of the rabbits 
whose teeth were ground on the right side. 
Note how the muscles have developed and 
pulled the bones toward the left side and how- 
underdeveloped is the right side. 



Fig. 4 





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Fig. 5 shows the under surface of the skull 
of the normal rabbit with the teeth clean and 
polished from use and all of the bones per- 
fectly developed. 



»g. 




Fig. 6 shows the same view of the skull 
of the disabled rabbit. Note how the 
muscles have pulled down and flattened 
out the bone on the right side which con- 
tains the unused teeth. 



Fig. 6 




Fig. 7 shows the back view of the skull, and 
this is the most interesting of all. Not only is 
the left side better developed than the right 
side, but the top of the cranium or brain case 
is higher, while the right side is flattened out 
and has much less capacity. In fact the skull 
of the normal rabbit was filled with shot which 
was later poured into the skull of the demon- 
strating rabbit and it was found that there was considerable shot 
left over after the latter was filled. 



Fig. 7 



In presenting this demonstration we wish to call attention 
to the fact that it is extremely important to keep the baby teeth 
in a sound and healthful condition so that the child can chew on 
both sides of the mouth. Unequal brain development means an 
abnormal brain and an abnormal brain means abnormal thought 
and actions. A physically perfect child is pretty apt to be nor- 
mal in every way. 

SOME COMMON CAUSES OF DEFORMED MOUTHS. 

Have you ever stopped to think how many people would 
be considered fine looking were it not for their unsightly mouths 
due to irregular and malplaced teeth? Now irregular teeth are 
not inherited. They are made irregular because nature, for some 
reason, is not allowed to do her work properly and so she is un- 
able to place the teeth in their right position. Below are given 
some of the causes of these irregular teeth and if you will read 
them over carefully, you may be able to save your child from a 
serious facial deformity. 

CAUSE No. 1 . The loss of the baby teeth long before it is 
time for the second ones to take their place. (Fig. 8 and 9) 

One of the things that a baby tooth does is to hold room in 
the jaw for the second tooth that is to follow it. When a baby 
tooth is lost some time before the second one is formed and ready 
to come up, the space where it was closes and the second tooth is 
crowded out. Then when it is time for this second tooth to come 
into the mouth, it must take a position out of line with the other 
teeth or become badly turned. Therefore, TAKE CARE OF 
THE BABY TEETH. 




Fig. 8 
Irregular teeth caused by early 
of baby teeth 



Fig. 9 

Bad mouth deformity caused by loss of 
two lower baby teeth 



CAUSE NO. 2. 
first molars. 



Loss of permanent teeth, particularly the 



The first permanent teeth to come into the mouth are the 
six year molars. These are the four large double teeth that come 
through the gums BEHIND the baby teeth. No baby tooth is shed 
in the place where these come in and so parents are apt to think 
these are the first teeth. The truth is that they are the MOST 
IMPORTANT of the permanent teeth as they hold the jaws in 
proper position and do all the chewing of food while the first teeth 
in front of them are shed. When these first molars are lost 
through decay, the jaws slip out of their proper position, and the 
face is deformed as shown in the pictures. (Fig. 10-1 1 ) 





Photos by courtesy of Dr. C. C. Howard 



Fig. 10 



Child six years old. Mouth 
normal. Sixth year molars just 
erupting, which through neg- 
lect, decayed and were lost 
three years later. 



This is the same girl 
eighteen years of age. 



at 




Photos by courtesy of Dr. E. H. Angle 



Fig. 11 



This expression of the face is frequently 
produced by loss of the sixth year 
molars. 



This is the way the boy should have 
looked. 



CAUSE No. 3. 
food long enough. 



Failure to eat hard foods and to chew the 



We all know that a muscle grows big if we use it a great 
deal but perhaps you do not know that the bone to which this 
muscle is attached also grows larger when the muscle is used. And 
so if the muscles of the jaws are used to chew hard foods and to 
chew them for a long period, the jaw bones themselves are made 
to grow and room is thus obtained for the large second teeth. In 
a child of five years of age there should be considerable space be- 
tween each of the baby teeth in the front of the mouth. (Fig. 1 2) 
If spaces do not come between these teeth the jaw is not growing 
properly and the second teeth will surely come in crooked. (Fig. 
13) 




By courtesy of Dr. H. C. Ferris 

Fig. 12 

Jaws developing properly 

Note the spaces between the baby teeth 




Fig. 13 

Jaws not developing 
Second teeth will come in very crooked 



CAUSE No. 4. Bad Habits. 

Children are often allowed to suck their fingers or thumbs 
when babies, and continue this habit over a period of several 
years. The presence of the fingers in the mouth and the force 
exerted by the child in sucking cause many very bad deformities. 
(Fig. 14) All such tendencies should be checked before they be- 
come habits, for after these habits are formed they are almost im- 
possible to break. 

Often we find children holding the lower lip or the tongue 
between the upper and lower front teeth. These seem little things 
but they are the forerunners of very bad deformities. 



10 



One of the worst habits that mothers unconsciously teach 
children is to hold a hard rubber baby comforter in their mouths 
when going to sleep, and while asleep. These comforters have 
ruined many mouths and should never be given to a child. (Fig. 
15) 




Fig. 14 

Mouth deformed by sucking thumb 



Fig. 15 

Mouth deformed by having a "baby com- 
forter" always in the mouth 



CAUSE No. 5 
the nose. (Fig. 1 6) 



Breathing through the mouth instead of 



Mouth breathing in children is usually due to adenoids 
which are growths in the back of the nose that stop up the air 
passage and force the child to open the mouth and breathe through 
it. If your child is sleeping with his mouth open or is breathing 
through his mouth when awake, you should consult a specialist 
in nasal diseases or take him to the hospital for treatment. 



11 




Fig. 16 

Bad mouth deformity due to breathing through 
the mouth 

THE WORK IN THE SCHOOLS. 

The Dental Committee believes that it is much more sensible 
to prevent teeth from decaying than to establish a clinic for just the 
filling of teeth. We know that "A Clean Tooth Never Decays." 
If the children's teeth can be cleaned and polished at frequent in- 
tervals, and they are taught how to brush the teeth and the parents 
will see that they do brush them after each meal, we can prevent 
in a great measure, any cavities from forming in the second teeth. 
We are trying to help the children to learn to help themselves. 

During the first round of work in the public schools this year 
we cleaned and polished the teeth of 11,314 children. This num- 
ber includes all the children of the first four grades. In the mouths 
of these children we found 65,077 cavities in the baby teeth. On 
account of decayed or sore teeth many of the children could chew 
on but one side of the mouth, while some of them had no teeth left 
in the back of the mouth as they were decayed down to the gums. 

Parents can greatly aid us by encouraging the children to 
brush their teeth after every meal, by insisting that they thorough- 
ly chew their food, and by seeing that they are kept supplied with 
clean and serviceable tooth brushes. 



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20 

Parents may rest assured that the utmost precautions are 
taken and that everything done for the children is conducted in an 
absolutely sanitary manner. We know of no dental offices where 
greater attention is given to sterilization than is given in this work 
in the schools. The hands of the operators are washed thoroughly 
after working for each child. The paper covers on the top of the 
cabinets are changed each time so that polishers being used and 
laid on the cabinet may not leave infection. ■ Oilcloth covers for 
the chairs and bibs are washed after each patient, so that with 
sterilizing agents for the polishers, mouth mirrors, etc., the work 
as conducted is cleanliness itself. Each operator has two com- 
plete sets of instruments. One is undergoing sterilization all the 
time the other set is in use. 




Fig. 29 shows one of the 
tooth brush sterilizers. The 
brushes rest in copper 
trays. The trays are 
punched in form the same 
as the seats and aisles 
represented in the class 
room. Formaldehyde i s 
used for the sterilizing 
agent. 



Fig. 29 




When the brush is sent 
home by the child it is wrap- 
ped in a piece of oiled paper 
as shown in Fig. 30. 



Fig. 30 



From time to time further information of the progress of our 
work will be supplied and your cooperation solicited. 



BEB 



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LIBRARY OF INGRESS 



Q 029 453 093 9 



